Coached by Thomas Hogstedt ... Father is Yuri; mother is Yelena ... Started playing at age 4; at age 6 took part in Moscow exhibition that featured Martina Navratilova; began training at Bollettieri Academy at age 9 (required two-year separation from mother due to visa restrictions and finances) ... Has become a major force in the business world with a series of very successful ventures including a Nike apparel collection; a Porsche ambassadorship; and launching candy and chocolate line, Sugarpova, in 2012 (www.sugarpova.com) ... Has given a lot of time and money to charity, including the Maria Sharapova Foundation and her work as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme, donating over $100,000 to Gomel area of Belarus affected by Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster from 1986, and launching a $210,000 scholarship program for students from Chernobyl area; also donated value of Porsche Cayenne she won at 2004 WTA Finals (approximately $56,300) to those affected by school hostage crisis in Beslan ... Favorite foods are Russian and Thai cuisine; favorite dessert is French crêpes w/nutella ... Other interests include fashion, singing, dancing and watching movies (favorite movies are Mona Lisa Smile, Something's Gotta Give and Love Actually) ... Has an extremely strong following on social media (in 2014 became first tennis player, male or female, to pass 15 million fans on Facebook).

2017 - Returned to tour in 2017, following 18-month suspension, finishing year at No.60… Campaign highlighted by 36th career WTA singles title at Tianjin (d. Sabalenka in F)… In comeback tournament in April, reached semifinals at Stuttgart (l. Mladenovic)… In first Grand Slam appearance of comeback, reached R16 at US Open as a wildcard, falling to Sevastova (upset No.2 Halep in 1r for first win over a Top 10 opponent since d. No.6 Kvitova in 2015 Fed Cup final)… Retired against Lucic-Baroni in Rome 2r due to left thigh injury, which forced her to also miss grass court swing… Also withdrew from Stanford, Toronto and Cincinnati with left arm injury.

2015 - Fifth straight Top 5 season (finishing No.4); won two WTA titles at Brisbane (d. Ivanovic in final) and Rome (d. Suárez Navarro in final); runner-up at Australian Open (l. to S.Williams in final); SF four times at Acapulco (withdrew prior to match vs. Garcia w/illness), Madrid (l. to Kuznetsova), Wimbledon (l. to S.Williams) and WTA Finals (l. to Kvitova); reached 4r twice (incl. Roland Garros) and 2r three times; played just one match in near-four month span between early July and late October, retiring in Wuhan opener w/right forearm injury (withdrew from Toronto, Cincinnati and US Open w/right leg injury and from Beijing w/right forearm injury).

2014 - Equal-best season to date, finishing No.2 (also finished No.2 in 2006 and 2012); won four WTA titles at Stuttgart (d. Ivanovic in final), Madrid (d. Halep in final), Roland Garros (fifth Grand Slam title; d. Halep in final) and Beijing (d. Kvitova in final); SF four times at Brisbane (l. to S.Williams), Paris [Indoors] (l. to Pavlyuchenkova), Miami (l. to S.Williams) and Cincinnati (l. to Ivanovic 62 57 75; held 2mp at 5-4 third set); reached 4r three times (Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open) and 3r four times; fell in RR stage at WTA Finals (went 1-2).

2013 - Another Top 5 season (finishing No.4); won two WTA titles at Indian Wells (d. Wozniacki in final) and Stuttgart (d. Li in final); runner-up three times at Miami, Madrid and Roland Garros (l. to S.Williams in all three finals); SF twice at Australian Open (l. to Li) and Doha (l. to S.Williams); QF at Rome (withdrew prior to match w/illness); reached 2r once (Wimbledon); played only one match in injury-marred second half of season - after withdrawing from Stanford and Toronto w/left hip injury, dropped opener at Cincinnati (l. to Stephens) then missed rest of season w/right shoulder injury (withdrew from US Open, Tokyo, Beijing and WTA Finals).

2012 - Equal-best season to date (finishing No.2); won three WTA titles at Stuttgart (d. Azarenka in final), Rome (d. Li in final) and Roland Garros (d. Errani in final); returned to No.1 on June 11 (spent four weeks there to bring career weeks at No.1 to 21); was sixth player in Open Era to complete career Grand Slam (after Court, Evert, Navratilova, Graf and S.Williams) and 10th all-time (also Connolly, Hart, Fry and King); runner-up six times at Australian Open (l. to Azarenka in final), Indian Wells (l. to Azarenka in final), Miami (l. to A.Radwanska in final), Olympics (l. to S.Williams in final; won silver medal), Beijing (l. to Azarenka) and WTA Finals (l. to S.Williams in final); SF once at US Open (l. to Azarenka); QF three times at Paris [Indoors], Madrid and Tokyo [Pan Pacific]; only pre-QF loss all season long came at Wimbledon (l. to Lisicki in 4r).

2011 - Another Top 5 season (finishing No.4); won two WTA titles at Rome (d. Stosur in final) and Cincinnati (d. Jankovic in final); runner-up twice, at Miami (l. to Azarenka in final) and Wimbledon (l. to Kvitova in final); SF twice, at Indian Wells (l. to Wozniacki) and Roland Garros (l. to Li); QF three times, at Auckland, Stanford and Tokyo [Pan Pacific]; reached 4r once (Australian Open) and 3r three times (incl. US Open); struggled with left ankle injury in fall (ret. in Tokyo then withdrew from Beijing; qualified for WTA Finals but went 0-2 in RR and withdrew).

2010 - Another Top 20 season (finishing No.18); won two WTA titles at Memphis (d. Arvidsson in final) and Strasbourg (d. Barrois in final); runner-up three times, at Birmingham (l. to Li in final), Stanford (l. to Azarenka in final) and Cincinnati (l. to Clijsters 26 76(4) 62 in final; held 3mp at 62 53); reached 4r twice (Wimbledon, US Open), 3r twice (incl. Roland Garros) and 2r once; fell 1r three times (incl. Australian Open).

2009 - Season of resurgence after nine-month right shoulder injury lay-off, dipping out of Top 100 but going 31-9 between May and end of year (finishing No.14); withdrew from all events from January to April w/right shoulder injury (incl. Australian Open); played one doubles match, falling 1r at Indian Wells (w/Vesnina); best results in 10 events played upon return were one WTA title at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (won title when Jankovic ret. w/right wrist injury in final), runner-up finish at Toronto (l. to Dementieva in final), two SFs at Birmingham (l. to Li) and Los Angeles (l. to Pennetta) and three QFs at Warsaw, Roland Garros (l. to Cibulkova) and Stanford; only three pre-QF exits, at Wimbledon (l. to Dulko in 2r), US Open (l. to Oudin in 3r) and Beijing (l. to Peng in 3r); lay-off caused ranking to fall out of Top 100 week of May 18 (No.126; first non-Top 100 ranking since first making Top 100 debut in 2003), but played first event of comeback that week in Warsaw (rose to No.102 after QF finish there and after Roland Garros returned to Top 100, getting back to No.14 for November 9 year-end rankings).

2008 - Another Top 10 season (finishing No.9); went 27-2 before Roland Garros, highlighted by third Grand Slam title at Australian Open (d. Ivanovic in final) and two more WTA titles at Doha (d. Zvonareva in final) and Amelia Island (d. Cibulkova in final); SF twice, at Indian Wells and Rome; QF at Charleston; returned to No.1 on May 19, the week after Henin retired and took name off rankings (held it for three weeks); only pre-QF losses came in last three events of shortened season, at Roland Garros (l. to Safina 67(6) 76(5) 62 in 4r; led 5-2 second set w/mp at 5-3 second set, also leading 5-2 in tie-break), Wimbledon (l. to Kudryavtseva in 2r) and Montréal (withdrew prior to 3r w/right shoulder injury); right shoulder injury caused withdrawals from all events rest of season (incl. Olympics and US Open) as well as two events earlier in season (Miami, Eastbourne).

2007 - Another Top 5 season (finishing No.5); won one WTA title at San Diego (d. Schnyder in final); runner-up three times, at Australian Open (l. to S.Williams in final), Birmingham (l. to Jankovic in final) and WTA Finals (l. to Henin in final); SF four times, at Tokyo [Pan Pacific], Istanbul, Roland Garros (l. to Ivanovic) and Los Angeles; reached 4r three times (incl. Wimbledon), 3r once (US Open) and 2r once; withdrew from five events w/right shoulder injury and three w/left leg injuries; returned to No.1 after Australian Open (for seven more weeks).

2006 - Another Top 5 season (finishing No.2); won second Grand Slam title at US Open (d. Henin in final); four other WTA titles came at Indian Wells (d. Dementieva in final), San Diego (d. Clijsters in final), Zürich (d. Hantuchova in final) and Linz (d. Petrova in final); runner-up twice, at Dubai (l. to Henin in final) and Miami (l. to Kuznetsova in final); SF six times, at Australian Open (l. to Henin), Tokyo [Pan Pacific], Birmingham, Wimbledon (l. to Mauresmo), Los Angeles and WTA Finals (l. to Henin in SF); only pre-SF losses came at Roland Garros (l. to Safina 75 26 75 in 4r; led 5-1 third set) and Moscow (withdrew prior to QF w/right foot strain).

2005 - Another Top 5 season (finishing No.4); won three WTA titles at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (d. Davenport in final), Doha (d. Molik in final) and Birmingham (d. Jankovic in final); runner-up once, at Miami (l. to Clijsters in final); SF seven times, incl. Grand Slams at Australian Open (l. to S.Williams 26 75 86; held 3mp at 5-4 third set), Wimbledon (l. to V.Williams) and US Open (l. to Clijsters) but also Indian Wells, Rome, Beijing and WTA Finals (l. to Mauresmo in SF); QF four times, at Berlin, Roland Garros (l. to Henin), Los Angeles and Moscow; began year at No.4 and rose to No.3 for first time on February 7 (after Tokyo [Pan Pacific]), No.2 for first time on April 11 (shortly after Miami) and No.1 for first time on August 22 (would spend seven weeks at No.1 during season).

2004 - First Top 5 season (finishing No.4); won first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon (d. S.Williams in final; fourth-youngest Grand Slam champion in Open Era after Hingis, Seles and Austin); four other WTA titles came at Birmingham (d. Golovin in third-youngest final in Open Era behind 1991 San Diego, 1980 Tampa), Seoul (d. Domachowska in final), Tokyo [Japan Open] (d. Washington in final) and WTA Finals (d. S.Williams 46 62 64 in final; trailed 4-0 third set); runner-up once, at Zürich (l. to Molik in final); SF three times, at Memphis (l. to Zvonareva), Beijing (l. to Kuznetsova) and Philadelphia (withdrew prior to match w/right shoulder strain); QF twice more, at Roland Garros (first Grand Slam QF; l. to Suárez) and San Diego; fell 3r at other two majors; made Top 20 debut on April 5 (after Miami; rose from No.23 to No.19), Top 10 debut on July 5 (after Wimbledon; rose from No.15 to No.8) and Top 5 debut on November 15 year-end rankings (rose from No.6 to No.4); won one WTA doubles title.

2003 - First Top 50 season; won first two WTA titles at Tokyo [Japan Open] (d. Kapros in final) and Québec City (won when Sequera ret. w/ankle injury in final); SF twice, at Birmingham (l. to Asagoe) and Luxembourg (l. to Clijsters); QF at Shanghai; debuted at all four majors, best result being 4r at Wimbledon (as WC, l. to Kuznetsova); made Top 100 debut on June 16 (after Birmingham; rose from No.125 to No.88) and Top 50 debut on September 22 (after Shanghai; rose from No.52 to No.47); won two WTA doubles titles; won one singles title on ITF Circuit.

2002 - Played first two WTA main draws, reaching 2r at Indian Wells (as unranked WC, l. to Seles) and falling 1r at Tokyo [Japan Open] (as WC); won three singles titles on ITF Circuit.